St. George - What a day!
Did it take a week for the SG mental scars to heal before I could do my report? Not really, but it was definitely a heck of a race.
My race excitement started Thursday morning. While driving into SG from Vegas, my wife called me to ask why she was looking at my bike box on the front porch of our home, back in Arkansas. Needless to say, panic set in. After a lot of calls and discussions with FedEx, my bike was eventually on an overnight trip to St. George.
With disaster averted, I borrowed a friends bike for a short ride Thursday afternoon and went about trying to get ready for the race.
Frinday morning, I did a pre-race swim. Water was cold, but not as bad as I had worked it up to be in my head.
Race morning started at 3:30. Funny how that time seems to be the standard. Oatmeal, bananna, bagel and coffee. After a short ride to set up T2 we were on the first shuttle out to the swim. Once I got to T1, I had some final bike maintenance to do with my water cages, but that only took about 20 minutes. After that, it was relaxing and resting until time to go.
Went off at 7:51 and was happy the water seemed a bit warmer than the day before. Maybe all the waves before warmed it up for us? I havent seen anyone mention how clear the water was. Wit that clarity it was easy to spot other swimmers. Not being a strong swimmer, I had someone pass me about 300yds in who was just a bit faster. I jumped on his feet and tried to stay close and straight. Swim went mostly well with some sligh calf cramps the last 200yds or so. When I stood up at the end my hamstrings started cramping a little. I wobbled up for a short visit with the strippers and then headed to my bike. Just under 35 minutes.
No issues with the transition and I was soon out on the bike. About a mile in, my garmin gives me a beep. This isn't good because my garmin isn't set up for any warnings. I look down and see the low battery warning. That is when I decided this was a good day to race off RPE. All the talk of the difficulty of the last climb and knowing it was a tough run made me want to play it very conservative on the bike. I tried to stay steady and felt I did a good job of that. The pro leaders had hit the run turnaround and were just across the median as I came through that section on my bike. It was a little deflating as they were running up the hills faster than I was biking up them. Did anyone else get frustrated with the no pass zones? The climb through Snow Canyon was long and steady, but completely manageable. The descent after Snow Canyon was FUN!! A little disappointing total time 3:06. Took in about 275 calories an hour on the bike. A mix of 4 scoops of Infinit, 14 Cliff Shot Blocks, about 3 bottles of water, 6 salt tabs and a diluted bottle of Gatorade.
No problems in T2. A quick transition and out on the run course. Felt good through 1 mile then my calf acted up. A chronic issue I've been fighting all winter. I switched to my flat foot run stride and tried to ignore the pain. Being new to EN, I've never purposely tried the run/walk strategy. My goal is to keep the feet moving and take in water and perform at each station. Additionally, I try to take one shot block per mile and one salt tab every 3 miles. On the first downhill, about mile 3, my right hamstring locked up. I doubled down on my shot blocks and stretched for a minute or so and was happy that didn't happen again. The ups and downs were tough, I just shortened my stride on the hills and tried to pick things up when we were going downhill. The final little out and back on the way home was a real kicker, but knowing it was all downhill after that was my carrot. Worked hard all the way to the line and finished the run hurting but with a good pace. 1:50
The crowd at the finish was awesome and the support groups along the entire course were great. It was a beautiful course and well organized. I give the entire race a thumbs up, as long as you are ready for a solid challenge.
My race excitement started Thursday morning. While driving into SG from Vegas, my wife called me to ask why she was looking at my bike box on the front porch of our home, back in Arkansas. Needless to say, panic set in. After a lot of calls and discussions with FedEx, my bike was eventually on an overnight trip to St. George.
With disaster averted, I borrowed a friends bike for a short ride Thursday afternoon and went about trying to get ready for the race.
Frinday morning, I did a pre-race swim. Water was cold, but not as bad as I had worked it up to be in my head.
Race morning started at 3:30. Funny how that time seems to be the standard. Oatmeal, bananna, bagel and coffee. After a short ride to set up T2 we were on the first shuttle out to the swim. Once I got to T1, I had some final bike maintenance to do with my water cages, but that only took about 20 minutes. After that, it was relaxing and resting until time to go.
Went off at 7:51 and was happy the water seemed a bit warmer than the day before. Maybe all the waves before warmed it up for us? I havent seen anyone mention how clear the water was. Wit that clarity it was easy to spot other swimmers. Not being a strong swimmer, I had someone pass me about 300yds in who was just a bit faster. I jumped on his feet and tried to stay close and straight. Swim went mostly well with some sligh calf cramps the last 200yds or so. When I stood up at the end my hamstrings started cramping a little. I wobbled up for a short visit with the strippers and then headed to my bike. Just under 35 minutes.
No issues with the transition and I was soon out on the bike. About a mile in, my garmin gives me a beep. This isn't good because my garmin isn't set up for any warnings. I look down and see the low battery warning. That is when I decided this was a good day to race off RPE. All the talk of the difficulty of the last climb and knowing it was a tough run made me want to play it very conservative on the bike. I tried to stay steady and felt I did a good job of that. The pro leaders had hit the run turnaround and were just across the median as I came through that section on my bike. It was a little deflating as they were running up the hills faster than I was biking up them. Did anyone else get frustrated with the no pass zones? The climb through Snow Canyon was long and steady, but completely manageable. The descent after Snow Canyon was FUN!! A little disappointing total time 3:06. Took in about 275 calories an hour on the bike. A mix of 4 scoops of Infinit, 14 Cliff Shot Blocks, about 3 bottles of water, 6 salt tabs and a diluted bottle of Gatorade.
No problems in T2. A quick transition and out on the run course. Felt good through 1 mile then my calf acted up. A chronic issue I've been fighting all winter. I switched to my flat foot run stride and tried to ignore the pain. Being new to EN, I've never purposely tried the run/walk strategy. My goal is to keep the feet moving and take in water and perform at each station. Additionally, I try to take one shot block per mile and one salt tab every 3 miles. On the first downhill, about mile 3, my right hamstring locked up. I doubled down on my shot blocks and stretched for a minute or so and was happy that didn't happen again. The ups and downs were tough, I just shortened my stride on the hills and tried to pick things up when we were going downhill. The final little out and back on the way home was a real kicker, but knowing it was all downhill after that was my carrot. Worked hard all the way to the line and finished the run hurting but with a good pace. 1:50
The crowd at the finish was awesome and the support groups along the entire course were great. It was a beautiful course and well organized. I give the entire race a thumbs up, as long as you are ready for a solid challenge.
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Frank - Wow, i would have been freaking-out with your bike situation. I used TBT and kept having nightmares my bike was not going to be in St. George. I can't imaging having to deal with fed-x 2 days before the race. Sounds like a very solid race. Yes, water was very clear which was helpful and made it much easier to spot other swimmers and that helps to minimize contact. No pass zones were not a problem here. I really couldn't have gone much faster than i did given the tight turns. You might want to consider walking the aid stations. Not only is it a break/reward from running the last mile, it helps ensure you get any nutrition in your mouth and not all over you.
Thanks Mark. Yes the bike situation was stressful. Red Rock bike shop, who did a great job on setting up our groups bikes, let me put a deposit down on a road bike that I would have rented for the day if mine didn't show up. I may try the run walk strategy at my next event depending on how much I can train. 1:35 to 1:30 is usually my target run time when I'm trained up. I struggle to think that I can keep the pace I need between aid stations to hit those times and still take the walk breaks. On the other hand I swallowed some shot blocks poorly and sounded like I was hacking up a lung between miles 9 and 10 last weekend. Definitely not a great time to be struggling to breathe.